More Than a Screen: The Unchanging Ethics of Teaching

     In an era where anything can be viral and one angry comment can define a career, the digital footprint of a teacher should be as careful as how they plan their lesson plans for their students. As future educators, the code of ethics is our guide on how we act even outside the classroom. Just like in the classroom, there are different rules as to how we should execute ourselves as teachers because one wrong single move could ruin all of our hard work in being a teacher, especially in this era where everything can be posted online whether it is positive or negative as stated in Article II, Section 3 where in a teacher shall possess and actualize a full commitment and devotion to duty. There will be times in our career where we will see comments online how people would degrade teachers, but as long as we are guided by our code of ethics, specifically in Article X, Section 3 where it says that a teacher shall maintain at all times a dignified personality which could serve as a model worthy of emulation by learners and the public. Despite all of the negative comments and the ridicule of the people regarding our profession or even regarding a character from a teacher, we should remain professional and know how to handle these kinds of scenarios without being impulsive. If we let our emotions run our profession, the long-term effect would be damaging not only to our career but also to our personal life. 

Whether standing behind a wooden lectern or a glowing laptop screen, the ethical obligation to provide inclusive and quality instruction remains an immovable constant. With the help of different frameworks used in the teaching profession it can help fulfill the ethical requirement to reach every student in a flexible learning set-up in a way we teachers can be free to do however we want to teach our students just as long as it is ethical and it is for the best of our students. It helps us to be more creative in delivering our lessons in a creative way whether our class would be in a traditional classroom or in a modernized and digital way as stated in Article IV, Section 2: Every teacher shall uphold the highest possible standards of quality education, shall make the best preparations for the career of teaching, and shall be at his best at all times and in the practice of his profession. COVID-19 happened when I was in high school, so we were forced to adapt the online modality in our school. It was a struggle at first since everyone was new to the new way of teaching but when everyone got used to it, it became easier for everyone. My teacher back in high school would ask us when we were all available so that no one would be left behind and some teachers would even sacrifice their own time so that they could teach their students without leaving behind even a single student. Looking back, I came to realize how much effort and sacrifice our teacher would give in order for us to learn, shows how much committed our teacher is to teaching their students in the best possible way.

The shift to online delivery has effectively brought the classroom into the private homes of our students, necessitating a heightened sense of confidentiality and respect for their personal boundaries. When the online modality started, there were challenges that were faced especially when recording synchronous sessions because this would compromise the privacy of the students. Another challenge is when communicating with the teachers because some boundaries would be broken. So as a future educator, in order for these boundaries to not be compromised, I would use the proper platforms – like emails, google chat – so that the school can still monitor the messaging sent to me and how I will respond to those messages which is stated in Article VIII, Section 4: "A teacher shall not accept favors or gifts from learners, their parents or others in their behalf in exchange for any concession, especially those that he can ill afford. Also, Section 9 dictates that a teacher should ensure that the conditions contributive to the maximum development of learners are adequate.